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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24867211">Ghost Road</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kris_Kenobi/pseuds/Kris_Kenobi'>Kris_Kenobi</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Supernatural</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon Compliant, Case Fic, M/M, Michigan, Only One Bed, human!Cas</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 09:15:25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>18,813</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24867211</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kris_Kenobi/pseuds/Kris_Kenobi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Now that Chuck has been taken care of Dean and Cas find themselves travelling around the country to continue helping people, and hunting things. Cas is now human, Dean is much calmer, and Sam likes to stay behind with Eileen. Sam finds the potential cases, and this time he sends the two to Michigan to a college town where a road is supposedly haunted. Both men are unsure if the little dirt road is actually haunted or if Sam kept them out of the bunker for other reasons. Being on their own has given them time to talk, time that has only been filled with silence, but finally emotions are boiling over. Dean is forced to face his emotions, and work things out with Cas all while the two are trying to determine if any ghosts actually walk down Ghost Road.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Castiel/Dean Winchester</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>71</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>BottomDeanBigBang2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Ghost Road</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So this fic is a part of the <a href="https://bottomdeanbigbang.tumblr.com/"> Bottom Dean Big Bang</a><br/>This big bang has provided lots of new friendships and experiences for me. Anyone thinking about it, just do it. </p><p>My artist is awesome: <a href="https://vulfmert.tumblr.com/">Meredith</a><br/>Glad she chose my fic to make it come alive.</p><p>Thank you to <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Its_funnier_in_klingon/pseuds/Its_funnier_in_klingon">Lauren</a> (<a href="https://its-funnier-in-klingon.tumblr.com/">tumblr</a>)<br/>My beta reader, best friend, and roomie.</p><p> Here's my tumblr: <a href="https://kris-kenobi.tumblr.com/">tumblr</a><br/>I don't post a lot, but when I do, it's funny.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  
</p><p>The diner had barely flicked its OPEN sign on when the black Impala rolled into the parking lot. Before the hostess could greet the two men, one had raised a finger and grumbled<br/>“coffee” before sitting down in the closest booth.</p><p>His companion apologized before taking a seat across from him.</p><p>“Dean, you scared that poor woman.”</p><p>Dean grumbled, staring down at the menu. </p><p>Cas sighed, turning his attention to his own menu. </p><p>It had taken him around a month to get used to needing to eat at least three times in a day, but with glutton-Dean around, it became a regular habit. Due to his time as a human previously, this transition was easier, though an angel becoming a human was not in itself an easy change.</p><p>Sixth months had gone by since the death of God, courtesy of Jack and his great aunt Amara, as well as help from the Winchesters, Eileen, and what little grace Cas had left. Once it was all over, Amara had reminded them of something that had been pushed to the side as they tried to eliminate their persistent fanboy.</p><p>Balance.</p><p>Now that God was gone Amara was left with darkness rising over light, an issue the Winchesters had to deal with years before and weren’t so keen on dealing with again. Although this time it wasn’t an issue for more than two minutes.</p><p>“What about me?” Jack had asked.</p><p>“What do you mean, ‘What about you’?” Dean had turned to Jack, still white knuckling the rifle in his hands. </p><p>Jack looked around the small group before the pile of ash, ash that used to be God, began to blow around in the wind. “Couldn’t I take his place…?”</p><p>Eyes turned to Amara, but the woman just shrugged.</p><p>“I don’t know.” Amara turned to Jack. “I don’t see why not. You seem to have enough power to substitute God, to build Heaven up to what it used to be.” She stepped up to Jack’s side giving him a smile. “And I’m sure you and I will fight less than my brother and I.”</p><p>Jack smiled back at her before looking at the three men that were exchanging nervous looks. “It will keep balance and make sure Heaven is running again.”</p><p>“Jack, you do know how much will be riding on you, right?” Sam tilted his head, stepping toward the young nephilim. “And I-I mean you just came back, and you are still young and developing your skills and--”</p><p>“Sam,” Jack smiled, eyes soft. “I know that it’s going to be a lot, especially because I have to create more angels. But,” Jack turned to look back at Amara before turning back to the three men. “But this is the right thing to do. We have to keep things balanced, right?”</p><p>“Yeah kid, but that doesn’t mean it has to be you.” Dean spoke up.</p><p>“Who else would it be Dean?” Jack shook his head. “I can do this.”</p><p>“We aren’t saying you can’t, Jack.” Cas said. “It’s just going to be a lot.”</p><p>Jack nodded once, determination written all over his face. “But I have to do it.”</p><p>With the help of Cas, Jack made it up to Heaven, and with a silent command, the four remaining angels were summoned back. </p><p>The Winchesters and Eileen retreated back to the bunker, cleaning up the mess they had left, since for the last couple weeks they had been pretty busy with Jack’s return, Amara’s appearance, and God’s final move. Dishes had piled up as had the laundry, so the whole bunker had a certain… odor.</p><p>It took a week or so after their victory over God before Castiel returned to the bunker and the brothers instantly noticed a difference in the angel.</p><p>The <em> former </em> angel.</p><p>After weeks of using a small amount of grace, Cas had drained most of his excess power. With a weak Heaven, his grace would take <em> years </em>to reach full strength, and by that time, his angelic powers would drain most of the energy left within his human vessel. To prevent this, Cas had decided to give up what little grace he had left and, once again, become human.</p><p>The past six months allowed adjustment time for all of the bunker’s residents. And they could all agree it was much needed time.</p><p>“Dean, this place has an omelette, but the outside is bacon and the inside is egg.” Cas looked over the menu before up at his grumpy companion. He thanked the waitress as she brought Dean’s coffee, requesting one of his own and a few more minutes to look over the menu.</p><p>Dean took a hold of the mug and took a slow drink, letting out a groan once the burning liquid slipped down his throat. “Sounds like my kind of omelette.”</p><p>Cas nodded in agreement, eyes continuing to scan his menu until a happy chirp erupted from his pocket. </p><p>Dean raised an eyebrow, but he was ignored while Castiel focused on his phone.</p><p>With a few clicks to the screen, Cas seemed satisfied with his text before stuffing his phone back into his jacket pocket.</p><p>Before Dean could ask who wanted Cas this early in the morning, his own phone began to ring. His eyes rolled as he reached into his own jacket pocket. </p><p>Sam’s name was flashing on the screen, as was a hilarious picture Dean had taken after waking his brother up with a bucket of ice one night.</p><p>Dean held out his phone to Cas, holding up his cup of coffee as if that was enough explanation on why he couldn’t answer the phone himself.</p><p>Cas sighed, taking Dean’s phone and hitting answer. “Hello Sam. No, you did call Dean. He just gave me the phone. No, he hasn’t had a full cup yet.”</p><p>Dean sipped at his coffee, elbows resting on the table as he began reading his menu. </p><p>He knew the call was more than likely just another case to keep him and Cas out of the bunker, allowing Sam all his private time with Eileen.</p><p>Dean rolled his eyes at the thought, but a smirk crossed his lips just as they touched the edge of his mug.</p><p>He was happy his brother had finally grown a pair and made his move. With all four of them living in the bunker, no one had gotten any real privacy in the past sixth months. Sam and Eileen needed time to themselves. He could respect that.</p><p>Dean had to admit, he enjoyed being out on the road. He and Cas continued to save people and hunt monsters, but it was different than before. Both he and Cas knew what they were doing was definitely their choice, and they had no fear of someone else writing their lives for them. It was just another weight taken off their shoulders.</p><p>“Paris?”</p><p>Dean’s head jerked up, eyes scanning over Castiel’s confused expression. He set his mug down and reached for the phone.</p><p>Cas shook his head and continued to listen as Sam spouted out case details.</p><p>Dean huffed, moving his hand in a “gimme” motion. When his gesture was ignored, he pushed up from his chair and grabbed ahold of the phone. He had to reach over with his free hand and pinch the back of Cas’s hand to make him let go of the device.</p><p>“That was very childish.” Cas said, eyebrows scrunched together.</p><p>Dean shrugged with a smirk, putting the phone to his ear. “What’s up Sammy? You sending us to Paris? You know I’m not a huge fan of the cuisine.”</p><p>“Paris, Michigan, Dean.” Sam stated, and Dean could practically hear the eyeroll in his brother's tone. “I was looking for fun cases, and I came across a ghost story from a college town and thought maybe you guys would be interested.”</p><p>“Mhm. It’s not just because you want more <em> alone </em>time with Eileen.” Dean took a sip of his coffee.</p><p>“No,” Sam said. “I just thought you might want a few more days to grow your own pair.”</p><p>Dean glanced up and watched Castiel as he spoke quietly to the waitress, pointing to something on the menu.</p><p>“Dean?” Sam waited a few moments before continuing. “Do you want to hear about the case?”</p><p>Cas finished talking to the waitress, smiling at her as she walked away, getting something down on her notepad. Cas sipped on his own coffee as his eyes raised to meet Dean’s. He smiled at him, eyebrows raised in question at the silence.</p><p>Dean swallowed before nodding despite his brother not being able to see him. “Yeah, what’s the case?”</p><p>There was some shuffling on the other side of the line before Sam cleared his throat. “So apparently this road in the middle of nowhere, in a town called Paris, is haunted by three ghosts: Two kids and an old man. The legend says the kids were run over by a tractor and killed, and the old man died of a heart attack while looking for the kids. Apparently they were his grandkids.” Some papers were shuffled around. “Some college kids say there was a dog involved, and you can sometimes hear a ghost dog, but all the stories follow the same basis that there are three ghosts.”</p><p>“Anyone hurt?” Dean asked, watching Cas open three separate creamers to put in his coffee.</p><p>“Mm… some people have gotten scratches, and some say they were pushed when they got out of the car, but nothing too major.”</p><p>“No deaths?”</p><p>“No, Dean. I just thought this would be an easy ghost case. You guys seem to be on a roll with ghosts lately.”</p><p>Dean sipped his coffee before answering. “Yeah. I thought we would just have an upset ghost on Crybaby bridge, but is anything ever that simple?”</p><p>Cas shook his head in response to Dean’s question as he began stacking the empty creamers.</p><p>Dean smiled but quickly tried to hide his reaction by using his cup as a shield. </p><p>“So it definitely was a woman in white?” Sam asked.</p><p>“Yeah. Not as bad as that one we dealt with years ago, but not a cakewalk either.” Dean sighed, setting his cup down. “So Paris, Michigan is where this place is?” Dean could hear his brother typing away. </p><p>“Right.” Sam responded, continuing his aggressive typing. “There are some crude instructions on how to get there and what to do when you get there, but I would look it up yourself once you get to Michigan. The directions are a little confusing; most use landmarks and without being there, I’m at a loss.”</p><p>“Cas and I can figure it out.” Dean glanced up at Cas only to see Cas watching the waitress who was carrying plates of food toward them. “Gotta go Sammy. Cas and I’ll head out once we finish stuffing our faces.”</p><p>Without waiting for a response, Dean hung up on his younger brother, sitting up straighter as the young woman stepped over.</p><p>She set down what looked like a pile of bacon in front of him and a plate of eggs, hash browns, and three slices of toast in front of Cas. She looked between them both but her eyes settled on Cas. </p><p>“If you need anything at all,” she smiled at him, leaning forward slightly,  “just holler and I’ll rush right over.”</p><p>Cas smiled at her, nodding gratefully. “Thank you.” His eyes didn’t linger on her very long before he happily turned to Dean. “I ordered you that bacon omelette. I didn’t want to interrupt you and Sam, but I didn’t know what you wanted.”</p><p>Dean shook his head, picking up a loose slice of bacon, biting off the end. “That’s fine Cas. I probably would’ve gotten this anyway; it sounded really interesting.”</p><p>Cas smiled proudly before grabbing packets of grape jelly for his toast. “What’s the case Sam found?”</p><p>“Probably just a ghost case in Paris, Michigan.” Dean answered as he cut into the mass of bacon, finding egg and cheese inside. </p><p>“Probably?”</p><p>“Well the story’s been posted by some college kids. It might just be a joke or you know… drunk college kids just having a fun time.”</p><p>Cas nodded in understanding, taking a bite of his toast. “So all the research we come across would be from college students.”</p><p>Dean nodded, a chuckle escaping him. “Yeah so you know, not much reliable research will be out there. Seems just like a case to keep us out of the bunker.”</p><p>“I don’t mind spending more time on the road with you.” Cas told him, poking the scrambled eggs on his plate. </p><p>Dean cleared his throat, staring down at his plate while he answered. “Yeah, it’s nice just the two of us out on the road, hunting some easy-ish cases.” He stuffed a piece of the bacon omelette into his mouth. “Besides, Sam needs time with Eileen.”</p><p>“I have grown to like Eileen.” Cas switched to his hashbrown. “She is very kind, and I believe she is a good thing for Sam. Everyone needs someone to ground and calm them.” Cas took a bite of the hashbrowns before staring at his plate for a moment. After a moment of contemplation, he began mixing his eggs and hashbrowns. “After I became human again, you helped me like that, Dean. You kept me calm and grounded me in this world and the fact that I was now a permanent member of humanity.”</p><p>Dean stared at Cas as the dark haired man casually ate his eggs. Dean swallowed the bite that had been sitting in his mouth.</p><p>“Well that means a lot Cas, but our relationship isn’t like theirs. You say shit like that out loud people are going to think we’re dating.” Dean forced out a laugh before he clenched his jaw, staring at his plate. “But yeah she’ll be really good for him, and it’s nice to know we could get her back. Like Jack. It was great that we got him back even with Billie and everything.”</p><p>“Yes, and things have been… easier since Jack took over Heaven.” Cas smiled. “I do hope we will be able to see him soon.”</p><p>“Yeah.” Dean nodded with a smile. “I sure miss that kid.”</p><p>Cas sighed, picking up a piece of toast. “Are we heading right for Michigan once we are finished here Dean?”</p><p>“Yep. It’s a long drive so we won’t get there until tonight. We can do a little research online before actually going to Ghost Road tomorrow.” Dean smirked. “And it’s a college town, you know what that means.”</p><p>Cas’s eyebrows scrunched together, his head shaking. “No…?”</p><p>“College parties, with <em> lots </em> of alcohol.” Dean smirked, nodding his head slowly while Cas just shook his head.</p><p>                                                                     +                                                                    +</p><p>Dean leaned against the hood of Baby, shooting a quick text to Sam, letting his brother know he had Cas had made the thirteen hour drive to Michigan. He began humming ‘Whole Lotta Love’, scrolling through recent news for Big Rapids, MI, to see if any more cases would pop up.</p><p>“They are pretty full, Dean.” Cas grumbled, holding two keys and a paper bill in his hands. “They only had a room with a king sized bed. I can take the floor.”</p><p>Dean slipped his phone back into his pocket, shaking his head as he walked to the rear passenger door. He opened it up, pulling out his and Cas’s duffle bags. “We can share Cas. It’s a king sized bed. I’d be shocked if we ended up disturbing each other.” </p><p>Cas nodded, leading Dean towards a set of scary looking metal stairs. “Well if that’s alright with you, Dean.” He turned to look back at Dean with a smirk. “I don’t want to wake the bear.”</p><p>Dean rolled his eyes, shifting the bags as they climbed up the steps. “Ha ha. I just need my sleep, Cas. You saw this morning. Three hours of sleep, and no coffee, really got to me.”</p><p>“Good thing there’s a coffee pot in our room.”</p><p>Dean raised his eyebrow. “How do you know?”</p><p>“I asked.” Cas replied, sticking a key into a white chipping door. “I am normally up before you, so I’ll just make a cup for you before you get up.” He smirked, turning his gaze to Dean. “That way I won’t have to deal with an angry bear.”</p><p>Dean once again rolled his eyes, stepping into the room after Cas. He placed Cas’s duffle on the side of the bed closest to the bathroom while he claimed the side by the window. “Well Cas, I say we do some research about this Ghost Road. I can look for some places around here that deliver.” He took out his phone, plopping down on the bed. “What ya hungry for?”</p><p>“Anything is fine with me, Dean.” Cas shuffled in his bag, pulling out his laptop before taking residence on his side of the bed. He hummed as he began typing away on the keys. After a moment he leaned towards Dean, showing him the computer screen. “I’m not finding any official reports about Ghost Road, Dean.”</p><p>“Like I said, Cas,” Dean rolled over onto his stomach, propping himself up on his elbows, which may have made his arms press against Cas’ thigh, “Most of the stories and stuff will be from college kids. We just got to find out how to get there and what to do to get the ghosts all riled up.” He returned to his position on his back, scrolling through the Jimmy Johns menu. “You try to find the location, and I’ll try to find what to do once we get there. Sam told me the basic story, but we’ll see what some of these college kiddos are saying.”</p><p>Cas nodded in response, clicking on the first link that came up. </p><p>Dean watched Cas from the corner of his eye, finally pushing himself up when Cas began to scrunch up his nose in thought. He retrieved his own laptop, but before he opened it, he decided he couldn’t take silence the whole night. Dean abandoned his laptop and stood to grab the remote lying in front of the flat screen. He sat at the edge of the bed, scrolling through the free movie channels.</p><p>He stopped on the horror channel, smiling as <em> All Saint’s Day </em> popped up on the screen.</p><p>“I’ve decided this movie is good.”</p><p>Dean looked over his shoulder, smiling at Cas. “It is. It’s a freaking classic man.” He stood, pulling out his phone. “I’ve decided on Dominos pizza. Pepperoni good for you?”</p><p>“I quite enjoyed the pizza we got in Montana, Dean. The one with the sausage.”</p><p>Dean chuckled, clicking the link to Dominos number. “Meat Lover’s pizza it is.”</p><p>Cas nodded as he scrolled through the information on the college forum. He pushed his laptop forward, across his legs to lean forward and pull off the jean jacket he had stolen from Dean months ago. He wiggled free of the jacket and put it down on the side of the bed. </p><p>Dean watched him, startled when the dominos worker finally answered. He stepped away from the bed and towards the bathroom to order their pizza. He ordered a large pizza and some garlic knots for good measure. Once he hung up he stepped towards the bed intending to start research.</p><p>“Did you get us drinks?” Cas asked.</p><p>Dean groaned, shaking his head. “I forgot there’s nothing here to drink but hey,” he headed towards the door. “There’s a liquor store right next door. You got any requests?”</p><p>“I do enjoy grape flavored water.”</p><p>Dean chuckled, opening the door. “One grape flavored water for Cas.”</p><p>                                                                     +                                                                    +</p><p>Dean came back in, a brown paper bag in his arms, Bon Jovi stuck in his head.</p><p>Two Dominos boxes sat on the small table near the TV while Cas sat on the edge of the bed, waiting patiently.</p><p>“The pizza delivery man came two minutes ago.” Cas informed him. “I’ve been waiting. I didn’t want to eat without you.”</p><p>“How kind.” Dean chuckled and set the bag down. “I got beer for me, two grape flavored waters for you and,” Dean pulled out a purple glass bottle, handing it to Cas. “I found a grape ale. I thought you might like it.”</p><p>Cas looked over the bottle before smiling up at Dean. “I will try it. I quite enjoyed the ale you ordered for me while we were in Wyoming.”</p><p>Dean chuckled as he took a seat, opening both boxes and immediately popping a garlic knot in his mouth. “I thought you might like it. Go ahead, Cas, have at it.”</p><p>Cas smiled and took a piece of pizza. He happily ate it, unscrewing one of the grape waters. </p><p>Dean watched Cas for a moment before reaching for a beer. The Bulldog store next store had a lot of beers to choose from, not that he was surprised for it being located in a college town. He had chosen a classic, downing half of the beer before claiming a slice of pizza.</p><p>“I haven’t found directions to the road.” Cas told Dean. “The road doesn’t have an official name. They just call it Ghost Road.”</p><p>Dean nodded, talking through a mouthful of pizza. “I figured it would be hard to find where it’s at. Honestly,” Dean swallowed, taking another swig of his beer. “I don’t know if we’re actually going to find anything. This might just be a college kid rumor.”</p><p>“No harm in looking.” Cas stated as he ate some garlic knots.</p><p>“No, I suppose not.” Dean shook his head, taking a huge bite of his pizza. </p><p>Cas shrugged, a smile on his face as he took another slice, folding it in half and practically eating half of it in one bite.</p><p>Dean watched, eyes wide as Cas started chewing the large bite. Before Cas could notice his stare Dean looked down, stuffing the rest of his slice in his mouth. As he chewed he felt a tickle in his throat. In an attempt to stop from choking he downed the rest of his beer.</p><p>It worked, but before stealing any more food, he had to take a few calming breaths.</p><p>“Hopefully I can find how to get there or we won’t even have a case.” Cas said, looking towards his computer, sipping on his water. “I found a post that said it was past a cemetery.”</p><p>“Hm… then it’s definitely possible for it to be a ghost.” Dean took another piece of pizza, this time taking a much smaller bite. </p><p>His eyes wandered over to the TV, watching one of the final scenes of <em> All Saint’s Day </em>.</p><p>Cas ate a few more garlic knots before taking a slice of pizza back over to the bed. He sat down and pulled his laptop back onto his lap. While he read, he munched on the pizza, eating this slice much slower than the previous one.</p><p>Dean ate another slice and most of the garlic knots before he joined Cas on the bed, picking up his laptop. As he settled into the bed he groaned, patting his stomach. </p><p>“And now we got leftovers for a midnight snack.” He said, scrolling through college student stories of Ghost Road.</p><p>“We will be up until midnight, at least… especially if we can’t find anything.” Cas sighed, clicking the back arrow before he began typing again. “All I’ve found are students saying what they’ve seen. Lots of orbs; not much else.”</p><p>Dean shrugged, eyes heading to the TV as a new horror movie started. “Eh… we’ll find something sooner or later. Directions at least. If not we can head back to the bunker; no one’s getting killed at this place.”</p><p>“I’ve seen some reports of scratches.” Cas said.</p><p>“Yeah but not deadly ones.” Dean glanced over at the former angel. “Nothing too horrible.”</p><p>Cas nibbled on the pizza crust, clicking on another link. After reading for a moment, he leaned to his side, pressing his shoulder against Deans. “Here’s something more. It’s in Ferris State University’s newspaper… a student heard whispers and had something touch her. Again no harm, but she heard voices.”</p><p>“Yeah well anyone drunk enough will hear voices.” Dean said leaning into Cas to get a better look at the article. “Although,” he pointed at a certain line in the article. “It does say what you’re supposed to do when you get there. You look more into that, and <em> I’ll </em> look for directions.”</p><p>“Sure.” Cas leaned away, settling back against the headboard. </p><p>Dean grumbled after two hours of looking for directions. He had gotten the name of the road to turn on, but not which road was actually Ghost Road. Many of the instructions included landmarks, meaning they had to be out there to know where they were going. They would just have to drive out to Paris and find the road he <em> could </em>find the name of. </p><p>He sighed, closing the laptop and rubbing his eyes as he pushed himself up off the bed. Dean glanced to his left and held back a snort at the position Cas was in. </p><p>Cas lay splayed out on the bed, his arm falling off the end while the other leaned against the headboard, practically sticking straight up in the air. His legs were spread out, one inches away from Dean’s own. His hair was a wild mess, mouth ajar, puffs of air coming out with slight snores escaping from his throat.</p><p>Dean chuckled, getting up to begin searching in his bag for clean clothes. Once he found them, his next target was his shampoo and body wash. He wasn’t about to use the cheap stuff even if this hotel even offered complimentary soap. But he soon found both bottles and retreated to the bathroom.</p><p>The shower bathtub combo was an off white, and the black curly hair sticking out of the drain made Dean’s stomach turn.</p><p>He made sure to turn on the tub and get the hair all the way down the drain before he undressed and stepped in. The water was boiling at first, but with a slight adjustment, Dean was plunged into ice, so he quickly turned it back to boiling. He’d rather be burning alive than freezing to death. After washing his hair and most of his body, he let the hot water run down his back. The water was slowly putting him to sleep, and deep down, he knew he should get out of the shower and get some real sleep, but the warmth was just too inviting.</p><p>Well there was a source of warmth waiting for him back in bed.</p><p>Dean snorted, inhaling some water through his nose causing him to begin coughing. He leaned an arm against the wall of the shower and coughed until all traces of air left his lungs. He tried to inhale,  but all the air he took in immediately rushed out in dry, barking coughs.</p><p>“Dean?” The opaque curtain moved, and a pair of blue eyes peaked in.</p><p>Dean grabbed the curtain and held against the shower wall, a coat of red slipping over his entire body. “C-Cas!” Dean coughed, trying to clear his throat. “I’m in the shower, man. You can’t just--”</p><p>“I know.” Cas leaned against the wall near the shower, his eyes not leaving the curtain. “But you were choking. I wondered if something had you.”</p><p>Dean bit the inside of his cheek before sticking his head outside, eyes instantly locking on worried blue ones. He swallowed, breaking eye contact almost as soon as it was formed. “No… no, I just… Some water went down the wrong tube is all.”</p><p>Cas cocked his head to the left, eyebrows scrunched together.</p><p>Dean chuckled at the familiar expression. “It means when I went to breathe, I accidentally breathed in some water. I’m okay though.”</p><p>Cas’s head straightened but his eyebrows remained scrunched. “Alright…”</p><p>“Now could you uh, give me a minute to finish up my shower.”</p><p>“Of course.” Cas nodded and headed to the door before turning back to smirk. “I know you of all people need your personal space.”</p><p>Dean rolled his eyes as Cas shut the door. He slipped back into the shower and took a calming breath, making sure his face was out of the stream of water. With a glance down, he groaned and turned the water back to ice cold. A few seconds of freezing water allowed him to step out of the shower with some of his dignity intact. He dried off using a cheap motel towel that left red sore skin in its wake. Grumbling about the quality of towels, he pulled on a pair of boxers before slipping into red flannel pants and a shirt. He stood in front of the mirror for a moment, running his fingers through his hair, moving it this way then that before he was settled with the mess now on the top of his head. Dean shuffled out of the bathroom and tried to keep his eyes off of Cas as he stole a cold piece of pizza from the Dominos box. He stared down at the table as he heard Cas begin searching in his own bag for a clean set of clothes. When Dean turned around, Cas was disappearing into the bathroom. Dean let out a huff, tossing the half eaten piece of pizza back into the box. He walked around the bed, pulling back the covers to slip inside, and once he was settled, a smile appeared on his face.</p><p>The bed was warm on his side, making him wonder how much of the bed Cas had occupied when he no longer had Dean in his way. Dean could imagine Cas rolling all around the bed and lying in the weirdest positions possible: One leg in the air, an arm tucked against the headboard while his head was cocked to the side, mouth open and loud snores coming out.</p><p>Dean sighed, wiggling down in the bed before rolling to the side to grab his pistol from his duffle. Even with Chuck gone and many creatures hiding themselves away, Dean knew monsters weren’t the only thing to be worried about.</p><p>Especially in a college town on a Friday night.</p><p>Dean tucked his pistol under his pillow and rolled over onto his stomach, rubbing his rough cheek against the pillow. The fabric was cool to the touch, contrasting the warmth emanating from the sheets. A few moments passed, and Dean could feel himself slipping off to sleep, and unlike years before, he welcomed it. The last six months provided the best sleep he had had since he was young. He grumbled as he heard the bathroom door open, turning his head away from the noise. He heard a chuckle before the lights to the room were switched off. </p><p>“That was a quick shower.” Dean grumbled, most of the words muffled by his pillow.</p><p>“I didn’t need a long one. It doesn’t take very long to get clean, Dean.” Cas answered as he slipped in next to Dean, the mattress shifting left and right as he fidgeted to get comfortable.</p><p>Dean grumbled once more, eyebrows furrowing as he turned his head back to face Cas. “Cas, come on man. Lie down and get some sleep.”</p><p>“I quite like sleeping.” Cas commented as he continued to fuss. “I’ve read some articles that say you get the best sleep while lying in a comfortable position unique to each individual.”</p><p>“Mhmm.” Dean’s eyes had fallen shut again, and sleep soon began caressing his mind.</p><p>After a few minutes of silence, and no more shifting, he was sure Cas had found his “comfortable position.” He sighed, his breathing slowing, and just as his mind began to grow dark, he felt something brush against his forehead.</p><p>His face tensed as he moved away from the feeling, and he was rewarded with it stopping momentarily. But soon it was back, but this time around his hairline before moving up into his hair. The feeling was warm and light, twisting around his locks, gently pulling on them. Rather than pulling him out of sleep, the feather-like feeling had him falling deeper and deeper into the realm of sleep. The warmth moved across the curve of his head before back towards his forehead, rubbing circles just above his hairline. With a few more movements back and forth and one more gentle pull, the feeling disappeared entirely, and Dean was left with a warm tingle spreading across his scalp.</p><p>Sleep consumed him for a solid six hours; nightmares left him alone for the entire time. Something warm began wiggling against him, pulling him out of the lull of sleep and back into the scratchy sheets of the motel bed. </p><p>His eyes opened and immediately locked on the back of Cas’ head, curls sticking up every which way. A lump was caught in his throat as Cas shifted again, his head slipping off his pillow and onto his arm. Cas’ legs shifted, pushing one between Dean’s own. Dean tried to separate his legs from Cas’, which took a minute, but was finally accomplishable. Dean slipped out from underneath the covers and made his way to the small table. He began brewing a small pot of coffee, finishing up the half slice of piece he had started at one that morning. Once the coffee was done, he downed one of the small mugs worth, groaning.</p><p>He was going to need a better cup of coffee before he could do <em> anything </em>.</p><p>Taking a seat at the table he began looking up restaurants that would be open at this hour and provide a better than average cup of coffee. He sat in silence, sipping another mug of lousy coffee before a groan pulled his attention from his phone and to the bed.</p><p>Cas had propped himself up on his elbows, chin nearly touching his chest. His head leaned back and made contact with the headboard with a loud, and painful sounding, crack. With a hiss, he bolted upright, rubbing the back of his head, groaning as he hit the most tender spot.</p><p>Dean got up, carrying a new mug filled with coffee. He handed it to Cas, a sympathetic smile on his face. “That sounded like it hurt.”</p><p>“It did.” Cas nodded, taking the mug with a nod of thanks. With one sip Cas grimaced, looking up at Dean.</p><p>“Yeah,” Dean nodded and sat on the side of the bed. “It is the grossest coffee in existence. I’m looking up a good restaurant in town. We need a decent cup of joe before hunting ghosts.”</p><p>Cas nodded in agreement, setting the full mug on the bedside table. “Yes. And I could go for some good food,” he glanced over at the pizza box. “Cold pizza doesn’t sound too appetizing right now.”</p><p>Dean chuckled. “Well, you wake up a bit more, and I’ll find us a good place to eat.”</p><p>Cas nodded, sitting in the bed for a few more minutes before attempting to get up. Once he was up, he quickly disappeared into the bathroom. He came out with clean teeth and tidier looking hair just as Dean finished slipping into a pair of jeans.</p><p>“I found this place called the Alamode Cafe in town. It’s in an old house, but those hole-in-the-wall places are almost always the best.” Dean smirked, digging around in his duffle for a flannel to match his green shirt. “We’re going to need to head back to the bunker soon. I’m running out of clean clothes.”</p><p>“I had a hunch Sam might keep us out a bit longer than normal. I have a few extra shirts if you need one.” Cas said, pulling off the shirt he had been wearing and tossing it to the left side of his bag. </p><p>Dean swallowed, watching the muscles on Cas’s back as Cas began shuffling through his clean clothes. Cas raised his selected clean shirt, slipping it over his head, pulling his hair every which way, almost as bad as it was when he woke up. Once the shirt was on, he tried fixing his hair with one hand while he picked up a pair of his jeans.</p><p>“Um… I’m good. I got another clean one in here.” Dean cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck, turning away from Cas. </p><p>“Alright.” Cas slipped out of his sleep pants and into his jeans. “So are we heading to this cafe?”</p><p>Dean nodded, putting on his last clean shirt. “Yeah. I’m starving, and I’m going to need at least one good cup of coffee before we head out to this Ghost Road.”</p><p>Cas grabbed his wallet, one Dean had gotten him a few days after he became human. The day he had gotten it, he opened it to find a brand new licence and a few credit cards in there for him. </p><p>“Dean?” Cas had asked. “This identification card says my name is ‘Castiel Winchester’.”</p><p>Dean had shrugged. “Yeah? You’re one of us, Cas. With all of this shit over and done with, even Sam and I have IDs with our real names on them.”</p><p>Cas smiled, looking down at the ID, and slipped on his shoes, glancing back as Dean downed the rest of the horrible coffee. “Come on, Dean, let’s get some good coffee in you.”</p><p>Dean nodded, grabbing his own wallet and his car keys. “Good. That stuff is horrible.”</p><p>The Impala was cold, the leather freezing both men down to their bones. </p><p>“This is one of the reasons February in Michigan is the worst.” Dean grumbled, feeling his fingers begin to go numb at the sheer coldness of the steering wheel. “At least there’s no snow.”</p><p>Cas’ eyebrows scrunched as water droplets began landing on the windows. “But there is rain.”</p><p>Dean sighed, turning on the whippers, glancing down at the directions on his phone. “Looks like it. I hope it stops by tonight, especially if we have to walk around on Ghost Road.” Dean pulled into a makeshift parking lot next to an old house. “This is the place. Doesn’t look like much, but all the reviews said the food was the best.”</p><p>Cas nodded, getting out and looking over the top of the car as Dean got out. “I hope they have pancakes.”</p><p>Dean chuckled, leading them to the door of the house. “I’m sure they do Cas.”</p><p>“At least you’ve had enough caffeine as to not frighten the waitress.” Cas commented.</p><p>Dean opened the door, allowing Cas to step in before him. “Eh I bet most of the staff here are college kids. They aren’t scared that easily.”</p><p>Dean was wrong, as most of the staff were elderly ladies, one writing their last name on a sheet of paper, telling them the wait was about ten minutes. Both were willing to wait, so they took residence against a wall. </p><p>Dean began scrolling through his phone, trying to tune out the three girls talking in high pitched voices about their nightly activities. After a few minutes, he was finally able to begin tuning them out when one mentioned Ghost Road.</p><p>“Bruce said he saw someone right? Then he pushed Gabby and I out, then locked the door.” One was saying.</p><p>The girl to her right nodded. “Yeah. He was being an asshole about it. He started slowly driving away, and we were freaking out because who knows who else is out there just wanting to be <em> funny </em>. Kyle went out there once and was just fucking with people that showed up. If someone would have jumped out at us, I would have pissed myself.”</p><p>“Aren’t you supposed to put the keys on top of the car?” </p><p>Cas’ voice startled Dean. The hunter looked up in time to see Catiel stepping over to the three girls.</p><p>The girls looked confused for a moment before giggling.</p><p>The first girl Dean actually heard speak, smiled at Cas. “Yeah that’s what people say but not a lot of people actually do it. A lot of people just go out there to fuck around.”</p><p>Cas tilted his head. “How are they supposed to see ghosts if they do not do what is required of them?”</p><p>All three girls giggled, glancing at each other, causing Dean to groan.</p><p>“It’s just a fun place to go and freak your friends out.” One of the girls said. “There’s not much to do here in Big Rapids, so college kids just go out to this abandoned road and mess around. But then you have the people that are really serious about it and actually believe in ghosts.”</p><p>“So stupid.” Another girl said, rolling her eyes.</p><p>Dean stepped up to Cas before the former angel could say anything else. “Cas, leave these girls alone.” He smiled at Cas before turning to the girls. “Sounds like a fun place in this hick town.”</p><p>The three girls nodded just as the hostess called out ‘Winchester’.</p><p>“Have a good day, girls.” Dean smiled before pushing Cas towards the hostess.</p><p>“I had a few more questions I wanted to ask.” Cas said, glancing back at Dean.</p><p>“You wouldn’t have gotten any answers.” Dean rolled his eyes, hearing the girls giggling behind them. “They go out on that road to mess around with their boyfriends and kill time. They wouldn’t be of any help. They probably haven’t seen anything out there other than their own shadows.”</p><p>Cas glanced back at the girls but quickly looked up as Dean left his side, following the hostess.</p><p>The hostess led them into the dining room and gestured to a table against the far wall. She smiled as they both sat down, passing each of them a menu. “We have our couples special going on this week in honor of Valentine's day. It’s a large omelette with double the meat and extra toast.”</p><p>Dean looked up at the hostess, his entire face turning red at the realization that this woman thought they were--</p><p>“Thank you but this one doesn’t like to share.” Cas interrupted Dean’s thoughts, smiling at the waitress. “Could we bother you for two cups of coffee?”</p><p>The hostess nodded. “Of course.”</p><p>Once she was gone Dean stared down at his menu, trying to keep his eyes off of Cas who had begun humming as he read over his own menu.</p><p>“This place has a lot of options for pancakes.” Cas pointed out before reaching over to rest his hand on Dean’s wrist. “Oh! Dean, they have double chocolate waffles.”</p><p>Dean looked down as Cas squeezed his wrist, raising his eyes to Cas’ smiling face. “Yeah. I saw that. I’m thinking about getting that but adding strawberries.”</p><p>Cas smiled, pulling his hand away to point at the menu. “I saw strawberry and chocolate pancakes, but I’m leaning more towards blueberry and brown sugar.”</p><p>“Pancakes with brown sugar and peanut butter are good.” Dean stared at Cas as the dark haired man bit his lip, eyes rapidly scanning over the menu. “When Sammy and I were stuck in motels, we had a lot of peanut butter. It was cheap so dad bought it a lot. I would sneak out and get some groceries and make Sammy peanut butter and brown sugar pancakes.”</p><p>“That does sound very good.” Cas looked up again as a waitress came closer to their table, holding two cups of coffee. “You will have to make those for me some time, Dean.”</p><p>Dean swallowed, nodding. “Whenever you want, Cas.”</p><p>The waitress set down the two cups, smiling at both of them. “Are you both ready to order?”</p><p>Dean glanced over at Cas who nodded with a bright smile. Dean cleared his throat, feeling his cheeks grow red again before looking back at the waitress. “Yeah. We’re ready.”</p><p>                                                                     +                                                                    +</p><p>Cas patted his stomach, leaning back in the passenger seat. “Those were some good pancakes.”</p><p>Dean twisted the keys out of the ignition, chuckling. “I just can’t believe you ate all four.”</p><p>Cas glanced over at Dean. “I had to. They were too good to let them go to waste.”</p><p>Once more, Dean chuckled before pushing his door open and stepping out into the rainy slush coming down from the clouds. He grumbled before shutting the door, heading for the front door of the Big Rapids township hall.</p><p>Cas got out and followed, going a bit slower in his food coma-ish state. Once inside he shook his head, getting some of the slush out of his dark locks. He looked up as Dean read a sign on the wall. “We’re are we going?”</p><p>“It says records are in room 45 A.” Dean looked at the closest door, noting it said 57G. “So we know the room number but I have no clue where the hell it would be.”</p><p>Cas shrugged before turning to his right and beginning down the hallway. After a few feet, he stopped and began making his way back. “All of those are 60s.”</p><p>Dean nodded and glanced down the other hallway. “It might be down here. These are 50s... 45 might be down there.” He began down the hall, stuffing his hands into his pockets.</p><p>The numbers continued to go down and soon both men were stepping into room 45 A. The room was packed with boxes, folders, and papers while a single desk was stationed in the middle of all the mess. </p><p>A poor young woman stood behind the desk, shuffling through a pile of papers. She didn’t seem to notice when some papers slipped from her piles and onto the floor. She shuffled back and forth across the room, grabbing more papers or stuffing some away in the vast stacks of papers. The stack in her arms began leaning to the right, papers fluttering to the ground while nearly half the pile fell as she tried straightening the pile. She got down on her knees beginning to pick up the papers, sighing as she did.</p><p>“Let me help.” Dean stepped forward, kneeling down to help her pick up the dropped papers. He looked up, making eye contact with the young blonde. “You look like you’ve got a lot on your hands here.”</p><p>The girl rolled her eyes, standing up to place the pile on the already cluttered desk. “You have no idea. And I’m just an intern.” The girl sighed before turning to both men. “But forget I said anything. What can I do for you?”</p><p>Dean set the papers he had collected down onto the desk, giving him one of his charming smiles. “We’re here for some information.”</p><p>The girl nodded, looking around the stacks of papers. “Well you’ve come to the right place. What kind of information are you looking for?”</p><p>“Deaths that happened in Paris, Michigan.” Dean tilted his head, rubbing the back of his head to add to his charming smile. “We’re looking for a long lost family member that died in Paris a while back, a long while back. He had two grandkids that lived with him.”</p><p>“I can’t just give out that information. You have any proof that you are who you say you are?” The girl asked, stepping around to sit down at the desk, typing away at the computer.</p><p>Dean raised an eyebrow. “You mean like a family tree or something?”</p><p>“Documentation about your family history. It looks like you’re just looking for a name.” The girl once again raised her eyes to the men. “You must know how they died. You have to give me something to go on.”</p><p>“He died in Paris a while ago while he was taking care of two young kids, a boy and a girl. Might have been a murder, suicide, an accident that killed him.” Dean clenched his jaw, shrugging his shoulders. “That’s all we’ve got.”</p><p>“That’s not a lot.” The girl shook her head. “That would take days to find all the files of those that lived in Paris and died because of murder, suicide, or accident. I’m sorry. I can’t help you.”</p><p>Before Dean could respond Cas had stepped forward, resting his hand on Dean’s shoulder.</p><p>Cas smiled at the girl, his eyes holding some sort of sadness. “See my nana really wants to find the rest of her family before she dies, and she’s trying to figure out where all her family came from, and what happened to all of them. We don’t know a lot about him, but nana was insistent that we find something for her.” Cas leaned forward and rested his hand near the younger woman’s. “We don’t need much, but if you could help us in any way that would be amazing.”</p><p>The woman parted her lips, eyes growing wide. “Well I um… like I said it would take me days to organize all that information.”</p><p>“Well we can help you for a few hours.” Cas looked back at Dean before nodding encouragingly to the woman. “It’s not fair they put you here all by yourself. We could help you look through all these piles and make your job a little easier.”</p><p>The girl looked around and shook her head. “I mean I’m not supposed to let other people see the files…”</p><p>“I just don’t want to leave you here all alone just to suffer through paperwork on our account. I would hate to ruin your day.” Cas leaned closer to her. “We can keep you company and help you organize this place a bit. It would make your life so much easier.”</p><p>The girl swallowed, a red tint dusting her cheeks. “I mean…” she cleared her throat glancing from Cas to Dean before back. “I suppose you two can stay and help. I mean,” she giggled, standing up from the desk once more. “I wouldn’t want to disappoint nana.”</p><p>                                                                      +                                                                    +</p><p>Dean grumbled, leaning back against the cement wall.</p><p>He and Cas had been helping the girl, whose name was Ashley, for a solid eight hours. They shuffled through papers and files, shredding some while sending some off to other offices. The piles had gotten smaller and the place was beginning to look more like an office rather than a storage closet for loose papers. The three of them organized things into files, entered a lot of information onto the computer, all while finding case files that matched what Dean and Cas were looking for.</p><p> He glared up at Cas as Ashley continued handing him files. They were both laughing, making rather flirty comments to each other. Ashley touched Cas’ arm, letting her touch linger a few seconds longer than Dean liked.</p><p>As soon as that thought crossed his mind, Dean shook his head, biting the inside of his cheek. Why would he care that a girl was touching Cas?</p><p>Oh, he knew why he cared.</p><p>He loved his best friend and had for a while. It had been close to four years since the emotion finally dawned on him. The last trip to Purgatory really brought those feelings to the surface. He had almost lost Cas, and it was completely his fault. He had pushed Cas away, and when the leviathans took him, it could have been the last time Dean ever saw him. He had prayed then, and it seemed Cas heard everything he had to say. His love for his best friend had almost been brought to light, but Cas had stopped him. The former angel had told him he had heard his prayer, but that wasn’t all he wanted to tell him. He wanted to admit it all, especially if it was the end of them both, if Cas had to take the mark and something horrible happened. He wanted it all out in the open. But he was silenced, and after everything finally settled, he couldn’t bring up those three words again.</p><p>Dean shifted on the ground, arching his back to ease the ache residing in his lower lumbar. He only looked up when he heard the office door close.</p><p>Cas stood in front of him, Ashley out of sight. A bright smile was on Cas’ face as he raised the folders in his hands. “There are four cases of murder, suicide, or death by accident near Ghost Road. Ashley said we may take them to compare them to our family history with nana as long as we bring them back tomorrow and not tell a single soul.”</p><p>Dean stood up, taking the top file from the pile, opening it to take a quick peek. “We can review these after we get something to eat. I’m starving, and I heard a waitress at the cafe this morning mention a great burger place in town. We can head out to Ghost Road after it gets dark, and if everything goes well, Ashley will get her files back tomorrow and we will be back at the bunker before tomorrow night.”</p><p>Cas smiled and started toward the door. “Good. I don’t want anyone finding out Ashley let us have these files. She’s just a poor intern.”</p><p>Dean rolled his eyes. “You’re getting real good at flirting aren’t ya, Cas?”</p><p>“Eileen has told me some pick up lines as well.” Cas turned to face Dean. “Would you like to hear one of them?”</p><p>“No, Cas. I’m--”</p><p>Cas straightened up, clearing his throat. “Dean?”</p><p>Dean raised an eyebrow. “What Cas?”</p><p>“There must be something wrong with my eyes because I can’t take them off you.” A smile spread across Cas’ face.</p><p>Dean rolled his eyes but laughed all the same. “Is that the best you got, Cas?”</p><p>
  
</p><p>“Oh no, Eileen has told me plenty of them.” He opened the passenger door and slipped easily inside, hiding the files underneath his seat.</p><p>Dean got in, taking his keys out of his pocket, slowing his movements as he noticed Cas staring at him. “What?”</p><p>“You don’t need keys to drive <em> me </em> crazy.”</p><p>Dean nearly choked on air, sticking the keys in the ignition. The roar of life coming from under the hood did nearly nothing to cover Dean’s labored breathing as he tried not to cough. His cheeks turned red, so he quickly turned to look out his side window.</p><p>Cas smiled proudly sitting straight in his seat. “I like that one the best so far. Where is this burger place we’re going?”</p><p>“In town. It’s called Schubergs. Apparently they got the best burgers in town.” </p><p>Cas buckled up, glancing over at Dean. “Ah, well you’ll be the judge of that, Dean.”</p><p>Dean nodded pulling away from the township hall, heading down the main road. He looked around, trying to keep an eye out for the burger place. He slowed down, parallel parking across the road from the burger joint. He glanced over at Cas who was looking out the window at the restaurant. </p><p>“Bar and Grill…” Cas read the sign, tilting his head. “Hopefully they’ve got good beer then.”</p><p>“You cravin’ a beer, Cas?” Dean chuckled as he stepped out of the Impala. </p><p>Cas shrugged as he stepped around the back of the car, joining Dean. “After spending all day surrounded by paperwork, I do feel the need for a good beer.”</p><p>“Yeah, I bet Sam would’ve loved being surrounded by all that paperwork and files.” Dean chuckled as he crossed the street to the restaurant. He opened the door, letting Cas step in before him. After noting the ‘seat yourself’ sign, he began looking around and saw a small empty table. The only empty table for two was near the back of the small restaurant causing both men to weave through tables to get to it. Dean huffed as he sat down, shrugging off his jacket, happy to be sitting in an actual chair. </p><p>Cas sat, also taking off his coat, looking around the noisy bar, a small smile on his face as a waitress stepped up to their table, setting menus down in front of them.</p><p>“Welcome to Schubergs, gents. Can I get you anything to drink?” The girl smiled, looking between the two of them.</p><p>Dean glanced down at the menu but shrugged, eyes rising to the young woman. “We’ll have two of the best local beers you got, both 16 oz.”</p><p>The girl nodded before taking off for the bar.</p><p>Cas was reading over his menu before glancing up at Dean. “We definitely know where Ghost Road is, right?”</p><p>Dean nodded, scanning the menu, almost immediately deciding what he wanted. “Yeah. I found the exact road to turn on and the landmarks to get us there. And we are supposed to drive down the road and turn around to park on the second hill coming back.”</p><p>Cas nodded and set his menu down, beginning to look around again. “Should we head there around midnight?”</p><p>“Whenever we’re done looking over those files.”</p><p>The waitress returned, setting down the beers. “Do you need a few more minutes?”</p><p>Cas looked at Dean and for a moment both men just stared at each other. “No.” Both of them spoke at the same time, but Dean let Cas continue on their behalf.</p><p>“No, I think we’re both ready to order.” Cas smiled and handed the waitress the menu. “I’d like the Hot Mess “Shu” please.”</p><p>Dean snorted, noticing the waitress smirk before looking at him. “And I’ll have the Cowboy “Shu”.”</p><p>“You and cowboys.” Cas shook his head, laughing when Dean flipped him off using the menu to try and hide it from the waitress.</p><p>She giggled while taking Dean’s menu when he offered it to her. She scribbled in her notepad, tucking the menus under her arm. “How long have you two been together?”</p><p>Cas raised an eyebrow as Dean spit his beer back into the glass. “Together? Dean and I have known each other since 2008.”</p><p>“She means dating, Cas.” Dean grumbled, keeping his eyes down on the wood table. “We’re not… together.”</p><p>“Oh.” The waitress looked between the two of them, clearing her throat before turning to glance at the bar. “I’m… uh sorry about that. I’ll go… er put your orders in.”</p><p>“Have you ever been to Ghost Road?” Cas asked, tilting his head.</p><p>She looked between the two of them, nodding with an eyebrow raised. “Yeah… I mean there isn’t much to do around this town and that’s just something every student at Ferris has to do. It’s just become a joke since I’ve been here.”</p><p>“How long have you been here?” Dean asked, finally able to pull his eyes off the table.</p><p>“This will be my sixth and hopefully final year.” She laughed. “The nursing program is kicking my ass. When I was a freshman, people were going to Ghost Road looking for ghosts,” She shrugged, crossing her arms over her chest. “Now they go to smoke and mess around. My friends and I don’t really go out there anymore.”</p><p>Cas frowned, leaning toward the waitress a little more. “Did you ever see anything out there?” </p><p>“Well the first time I was out there, I swore I saw a little girl. Her hair was all stringy and she looked pissed as hell.” The girl bit her lip and let out a nervous giggle. “But my friends told me I was just seeing things because I was scared. We went out there again a couple months after that in the snow and we actually got out of the car. My roommate said something touched her, but we all laughed it off, you know? So we walked away from the car a bit and were just giggling at each other whenever one of us would jump. Then we heard what sounded like someone walking in the snow towards us. We all panicked and bolted back to the car. The last time we were out there we decided not to get out so we just knocked three times on the window, like you’re supposed to and something knocked back on top of the car.”</p><p>Cas nodded, giving a smile. “Thanks. We read some stories about Ghost Road but didn’t know whether to believe any of it or not.”</p><p>She looked between the two men again. “Are you guys ghost hunters or something?”</p><p>“Something.” Dean smirked. “Just two guys with an interest in the paranormal.”</p><p>“I see.” She nodded, glancing back at the bar. “Well… I believe in ghosts but I can’t really tell you if there are ghosts on that road. If you go out there, good luck getting anything. I’m sure there’ll be some dumbass kids out there ruining the experience for people like you.”</p><p>“I’m sure we can scare ‘em off.” Dean tapped a finger on his glass.</p><p>The waitress let out a breathy laugh before retreating to the bar. </p><p>“Well atleast one person thinks they saw something.” Dean took a sip of his beer turning to look at Cas.</p><p>Cas nodded, grabbing his own beer. “Yes, and I believe she actually saw a girl.”</p><p>“Why?”</p><p>“The story says that there are three ghost out there, two being kids.” Cas sipped his own beer, shrugging his shoulders. “And why would she lie?”</p><p>“Because there are two hot guys asking her questions.” Dean chuckled, resting his elbow on the table. “But if you want to believe her, then go ahead. I’m not believing anything until we get out there.” </p><p>                                                                     +                                                                    +</p><p>Cas was typing away on his phone as Dean drove them down the road. Dean had assumed he was doing last minute research, but Cas’ phone kept going off. After the fourth little chime, Dean had enough.</p><p>“You know, you could silence it.” Dean grumbled. “You’re as bad as Sam.”</p><p>“Sorry.” Cas mumbled, turning the phone on silent but continuing his aggressive typing. </p><p>Dean glanced over, rolling his shoulders and adjusting himself in his seat. “Who are you talking to anyway?”</p><p>“No one.” Before Dean could say anything, Cas sat up straight looking around their surroundings. “Are we almost at the turn?”</p><p>Dean rolled his eyes but nodded. “Yeah. It’s right here.” Dean turned on his blinker, turning right onto a clearly less driven road. “You got your badge?”</p><p>Cas nodded, taking it out of his jacket pocket, holding it upside down to show Dean. </p><p>Dean smirked, knowing the former angel held his badge upside down on purpose. “Good. We might need them to scare off any kids messing around out there.”</p><p>A few houses sat on each side, but the farther down the road they went, there were less and less buildings until no houses settled themselves on the sides of the road. On their right came the graveyard, used as a landmark in more than one set of directions they had found online. Within another minute, Dean was slowing down, an empty shack sitting on the right side of the road. With a quick check to his left, Dean saw the road they were looking for.</p><p>“There it is.” Dean turned left, the headlights spanning over the dirt road. </p><p>The road was rough, potholes scattered across the road just enough it was impossible to avoid them all. Soon the Impala was surrounded by trees, rather tall hills in their path. The two men were silent as they travelled down the road, suddenly slowing when they spotted another car parked on top of the next hill.</p><p>“Great.” Dean grumbled, pulling passed the car and not daring to look inside. “Hopefully by the time we turn around and come back they’ll be gone.”</p><p>They didn’t have such luck.</p><p>After reaching the end of the road and turning around they found the same car parked on the hill, all lights off. </p><p>Dean parked behind the car and tapped his fingers on the steering wheel before stepping out of the Impala.</p><p>“Dean, what are you doing?” Cas called, opening his own door to step out.</p><p>Dean walked up to the driver’s side, rapping his knuckles against the window.</p><p>A scream came from inside and the whole car shook causing Dean to take a step back from the Subaru. Cas had taken a step forward but stayed by the Impala.</p><p>Dean rolled his eyes when the car came to life, revealing two hastily dressed college kids. </p><p>The waitress was right. People did just come out here to fool around.</p><p>The guy in the driver’s seat rolled down the window, glaring at Dean. “Hey asshole, what’s the big idea? Can’t you see we were busy here?”</p><p>The girl next to him smacked his shoulder. “Jason, let’s just get the hell out of here.”</p><p>“Better listen to the lady, buddy.” Dean said, looking down the road. “This isn’t the place to be doing that.”</p><p>“Who in the hell do you think you are?” The guy snapped, ignoring the girl continuing to hit and pull on him. “Why don’t you get lost, and leave us alone, old man.”</p><p>Dean rolled his eyes, pulling his badge out of his jacket. He smirked at the terrified faces of the two college kids. “I’ll say this once… get outta here.”</p><p>The guy grumbled, rolling up the window and taking off down the road.</p><p>Dean shook his head and walked back to the Impala. “College kids have no respect for anyone.”</p><p>Cas had a smirk on his face as he slipped back into the car. “They’re just having fun, Dean. I know you’ve had fun out on dirt roads.”</p><p>Dean chuckled, getting back into the Impala as well. “Shut up, Cas.” Dean leaned between the seats into the back, grabbing a cooler with some energy drinks and snacks tucked into nearly melted ice. He took out some cold gummy bears, closing the cooler and putting it back in the back seat. He opened the small package and handed Cas a yellow gummy bear.</p><p>Cas took it, glancing at Dean. “Are you going to put the keys on top of the car? Everything I read said to put the keys on top of the roof.”</p><p>“I’m not doing that. If there is a ghost out there I’m not letting them steal Baby’s keys.” Dean chewed on a green apple gummy bear. “We can do the other stuff. Knock on the window.” </p><p>Cas knocked on the window three distinct times, both men waiting in silence. After a few minutes passed, Dean sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. “Wish we could’ve brought beer.”</p><p>Cas smiled at him, glancing down as his phone went off again. After reading the message, he took a deep breath and stuffed his phone in his pocket. He glanced over at Dean, chewing on the inside of his cheek. </p><p>Dean sighed. “What, Cas?”</p><p>Cas shook his head, looking out his window. “Nothing, just thinking.”</p><p>“About what?”</p><p>Once again silence filled the Impala. Dean could practically feel tension coming off Cas in waves. Waves that crashed against his chest and made it hard to breathe. Dean felt a lump form in his throat as Cas turned in the seat to face him. </p><p>“I know what you were going to tell me while we were in Purgatory.” Cas clenched his jaw, scanning Dean’s face, noting how the Winchester grew pale. “Prayers do not have to be spoken aloud to be heard. I know you were going to say that you--”</p><p>“Stop.” Dean shook his head trying to swallow the lump in his throat.</p><p>Cas nodded in understanding, looking out the front windshield. For a moment they remained silent but with a deep breath Cas gained the courage to continue. “With Jack and God…” Another deep breath. “I’m sorry Dean. I know that was a big thing for you to admit.”</p><p>Dean let out an airy laugh. “You could say that again.” He glanced up, finally locking eyes with Cas. “You don’t have to apologize, Cas.”</p><p>“Do you still feel that way?”</p><p>“Cas…” Dean finally managed to swallow the lump in his throat, his voice coming out raspy. “You know I’m not good with words.”</p><p>“You don’t have to say anything, Dean.” Cas shook his head, leaning forward inch by inch. </p><p>That’s when Dean realized how close they actually were. Cas had leaned over the middle seat, hand resting on the leather to support him. His movements stopped, and he locked eyes with Dean, waiting for the Winchester to make the final move, giving Dean an obvious out. But this time Dean wasn’t looking for an out.<br/><br/></p><p>Dean leaned forward, eyes staying locked on Cas’ until they were mere inches apart. His eyes closed as Cas’ fingers slipped between his own, but just as he felt warmth brush against his lips a knock sounded against the passenger window.</p><p>Both men pulled apart, Dean hitting his head against the window, heart racing in his chest for more than one reason. “Sonuvabitch!” Dean rubbed the back of his head, looking up to see Cas opening the passenger door. “Cas, where are you going?”</p><p>“There’s something out there. Look.” Cas pointed at the windshield to a shadow seemingly moving down the road. He stepped out of the car and took off into the dark before Dean could even open his door.</p><p>Dean cussed, turning the keys in the ignition to flood the area with light. He slipped out of the Impala, stepping in front of the car, standing in the light. Cas was out of sight by now, over the next hill and chasing whatever it was he might have seen. “Shit.” Dean swore again, doing a full turn to take in his surroundings. He sighed, cupping his hands over his mouth. “Cas!” Dean shouted. “It is probably just some dumb college kid messing with us!”</p><p>When no answer echoed back, Dean grumbled taking a few steps in the direction Cas had gone but was stopped by a creek and the car door slamming behind him. Dean turned to find his door now shut and his eyes widened as he watched the passenger door seemingly slam itself closed. Dean took a few steps back toward the Impala, but a soft tug on the back of his flannel had him spinning around. </p><p>A voice came from his right, another tug pulling his flannel down. With a strong tug, the fabric ripped an invisible force ripped into his skin, leaving four scratches on his side. Dean groaned, retreating to the Impala and sitting against the hood, turning to see the ripped fabric and torn skin. Beads of blood appeared on the red indents, and a stinging pain resided in the scratches. Dean cursed, lifting up the ripped side of his flannel, more annoyed than in pain. Another, but more high pitched, whisper came from his left but Dean quickly inched his way over to lean against the drivers side of the Impala.</p><p>“Dean.” Cas called out, jogging over the far hill and to the car. He noticed the ripped flannel and Dean’s very pissed off expression.“What happened?”</p><p>“Something scratched me, it was strong enough to rip my shirt.” Dean grumbled, glancing up. “Did you find anything, chasing whatever the hell that shadow was?”</p><p>Cas stepped to the side, leaning down to look at Dean’s scratched side. “No. I didn’t see anything. I heard the car door slam so I turned around and came back. You’re bleeding and there’s dirt surrounding the cuts. We should get back to the motel and clean this up.”</p><p>Dean nodded, clenching his jaw before opening the door to slip into the Impala. “I don’t know what scratched me, but I swear I heard something.” Dean glanced over as Cas slid into the car. “Something spoke to my left, and something was tugging on my shirt. The shirt ripped,  and something scratched me.”</p><p>“You don’t know what that something said?” </p><p>Dean shook his head, tightly gripping the steering wheel. “No. It sounded like a little kid. All high pitched.” He groaned, rolling his shoulders. “So it might be an angry or vengeful spirit. Why else would it scratch me?”</p><p>Cas shrugged. “If the ghost is a child it could be something similar to the young boy when we were stuck in that cartoon with the hippie and the talking dog.”</p><p>“Scooby Doo.” Dean smiled. “I guess it could be something like that, but I think more people would have gotten hurt. During our research there were only three stories about people getting scratched.”</p><p>“I don’t believe that a small number of attacks would indicate an angry or vengeful spirit.” Cas leaned over to rest his hand on Dean’s knee. “It might have been an accident.” He moved his hand away, swallowing a lump in his throat. </p><p>“An accidental scratch?” Dean glanced over at Cas. </p><p>“You said something tugged on your shirt first. Again, if this is a ghost child, it makes sense. I read an article about developing children, three months ago, when Eileen had a pregnancy scare,” He ignored Dean’s surprised expression. “Young children tug on adults’ clothing when they seek comfort or need something that only an adult can get them.”</p><p>Dean shook his head. “We’re going to talk about the whole Eileen thing later. So you think it scratched me on accident?”</p><p>Cas nodded. “Yes. A young child as a ghost might not know how to control the power it has while tied to this world.”</p><p>Dean sighed, both men sitting in silence until they reached Big Rapids. Dean glanced over to his right, clearing his throat to pull Cas’ attention to him. “I’m going to stop at McDonalds and get some food before we head back to the motel, you want anything?”</p><p>Cas nodded. “I would enjoy a vanilla cone.”</p><p>Dean chuckled, turning into the drive through. Because of the late hour, it only took three minutes for them to get their treats. Dean handed Cas the vanilla cone before taking the bag from the young woman at the window. He smiled and said thanks before resting the bag against his thigh. As he drove back to the motel, he blindly reached into the bag to retrieve finger fulls of fries, stuffing them in his mouth. </p><p>Cas chuckled as he stole a fry from Dean’s hand and swiped it across the side of his cone before popping it in his mouth. “How should we try to talk to the ghosts tomorrow night?”</p><p>Dean shook his head, leaning his head to the right. “I don’t know, but if I get scratched again, I’m going to start shooting salt pellets.” He pulled into the motel parking lot, grabbing the bag and getting out of the car as he dug one of the burgers he ordered out of the bottom. He unwrapped the top and took a large bite before turning around to look back at Cas. “You got a key?” </p><p>Cas nodded taking out the plastic card, continuing to eat the remainder of his ice cream. When they stepped into their room, Cas had made it down to the actual cone, and Dean was opening his next, and final, cheeseburger. With a few more bites Cas had finished the cone and began searching for the mini first aid kit he kept in his bag. Once he found the small red container, he turned to Dean who had made himself comfortable on his side of the bed. Cas rolled his eyes as Dean stuffed the rest of his burger in his mouth, trying to smile around the food without exposing the chewed up mush. Cas smiled walking over to the side of the bed.</p><p>“Alright,” Cas put the first aid kit down by Dean’s legs. “Take off your shirt.”</p><p>“A little forward, don’t you think, Cas?” Dean smirked, finally managing to swallow the massive bite.</p><p>“I’m going to clean those scratches, Dean.” Cas once again rolled his eyes, opening the first aid kit to grab alcohol pads.</p><p>“Whatever you say, cowboy.” Dean chuckled, pulling his flannel and black undershirt up and over his head, tossing both towards his bag in the corner of the room. He rolled his shoulders and sat forward to provide enough room to see the angry lines etched in his skin. His eyes focused on the ripping fabric of his jeans, then the low quality comforter on the bed, anything but Cas. When Cas turned back to face him, Dean’s heart began hammering against his chest. The former angel’s eyes had fallen on his lower stomach before drifting up to just above where his heart would be. </p><p>“I am always surprised when I see myself shirtless in a mirror.” Cas mumbled, reaching out to brush his fingers over Dean’s anti-possession tattoo. “I haven’t quite gotten used to seeing the symbol on my chest.” His fingers ghosted across Dean’s ribs. “I have had plenty of time to become accustomed to the words etched into my side.”</p><p>Dean tried not to shiver, but the feeling just ran up his spine, causing him to shift into Cas’ hand. His cheeks were hot, but his gaze did not leave Cas’ face as he continued to move his fingertips across Dean’s abdomen before reaching the waist of his jeans. The dark haired man then finally looked up to meet the Winchester’s gaze. His head tilted in the way that always made Dean’s knees weak, a smirk gracing his lips. </p><p>“Now, I think we were going to do something… back in the Impala before we were rudely interrupted.” Cas whispered, leaning in closer until their noses brushed against each other. </p><p>Dean could practically feel Cas’ smirk against his own lips, but just as he leaned in to apply more pressure, a phone rang from across the room.</p><p>Both men froze for a moment, letting the phone ring four times then stop. Before they could move, the phone began to ring once more.</p><p>Cas cursed against Dean’s lips before pulling away to retrieve Dean’s phone. With one look at the screen, he returned to the side of the bed, phone in hand. “It’s Sam.”</p><p>Dean groaned but took the phone, hitting the green button before hitting speaker. “What do you want, Sam? It’s like one in the morning.”</p><p>“Cas told me you guys were going out to Ghost Road tonight, and I hadn’t heard anything since then.” Sam sighed, and Dean could practically see Sam roll his eyes. “I was just checking in. I thought maybe you weren’t just dealing with a ghost.”</p><p>“No it’s definitely a ghost. I got a few scratches that pissed me off, and something was closing the doors to the Impala.” Dean watched as Cas opened one of the alcohol pads. “I thought I heard something, but I’m not sure. I couldn’t hear any distinct words or anything.”</p><p>“You got scratched?” Dean heard Eileen’s voice.</p><p>“Yeah. It’s not bad. They are just small scratches, like a kid tried to grab me. There have been a few other people that have gotten scratched or their clothes pulled on, but it seems rare.” Dean pushed the first aid kit out of the way and lied on his stomach, letting Cas have better access to his side. “Most people just go out there to mess around. We had to shoo a couple out of there. It was funny, actually. Dude was pissed I interrupted his back seat grope sesh.”</p><p>Sam snorted. “Sounds like you in your early twenties, Dean.”</p><p>“Ha ha Sammy. Should I tell Eileen about all your little adven--” He was cut short by a stinging pain, a hiss coming from between his teeth. He turned his head, looking back at Cas who was gingerly patting at the cuts.</p><p>“Dean?” Eileen’s voice came through again, laced with concern. Sam must have been signing for her. “Are you okay?”</p><p>“Probably just letting Cas go to town on his--” </p><p>“Shut the hell up, Sam.” Dean snapped, grinding his teeth together. “Cas is just making sure the cuts are clean, and the alcohol stings a little.”</p><p>Sam grumbled something under his breath, but before Dean could make a snappy comment back, Cas spoke up.</p><p>“We are going back tomorrow night to try and make contact with these ghosts.” Cas said as he pulled a tube of something out of the first aid kit. “We are not exactly sure what type of ghost we are dealing with, but taking the myth about the road into account, I believe we are dealing with the grandchildren. Many posts online about ghost sightings are about orbs or small figures. We spoke to a girl at a restaurant earlier that was sure she saw a young girl out on the road.”</p><p>“Freaky.” Eileen muttered. </p><p>“No kidding.” Dean agreed.</p><p>Cas rubbed a thin layer of antibiotic ointment over the scratches before replacing the cap and putting the tube back into the first aid kit. “I thought I saw something run from the Impala, and it couldn’t have been taller than a small child. I really do think we are dealing with the ghosts of the grandchildren.”</p><p>“Did you find anything about kids dying out there?” Sam asked.</p><p>“Nope. We read over the files of all the deaths that were out there, and they were all older men or one old woman that fell out her window.” Dean sat up once more, rubbing the back of his neck. “Nothing about kids. So if it is kids we’re dealing with, there is no official file about their death. We’d have to figure out who they are, that is if we can actually get a good look at them, and spend weeks trying to find out where they might be buried.”</p><p>“We will need to return to the bunker in a few days ,however,” Cas spoke up. “We are both running out of clean clothes.”</p><p>“Right.” Sam mumbled. “Well if you can’t figure anything out in the next two days, then come back. It doesn’t seem like these ghosts are doing anything worse than giving some light scratches.”</p><p>“You’d be bitchin if it was you that got scratched.” Dean grumbled. “But we will be heading back in a few days if we can’t get any more information. I’m runnin’ out of clean boxers.”</p><p>Sam chuckled. “Alright alright. Be safe, and call if you need anything. I’m going to start doing some more research to see if I can help you guys out.”</p><p>“Thanks Sammy. I’ll call you tomorrow.” Dean hung up, getting off the bed and digging his sleep clothes out of his duffel. “I need to get some shut eye.”</p><p>Cas cleared his throat, nodding before he disappeared into the bathroom.</p><p>Dean stared at the bathroom door for a few minutes before getting changed. When Cas finally emerged from the bathroom Dean had gotten comfortable in bed and felt sleep clouding his mind. He peeked at Cas, but the dark haired man seemed to be ignoring him. This immediately woke Dean up.</p><p>Cas slipped into bed, keeping his back to Dean. He gave his pillow a few hits before settling back down on the bed, his breath evening out after a few silent minutes.</p><p>Dean rolled on his side, practically staring holes in Cas’ back. It was rare for Cas to fall asleep without at least a half hour of tossing and turning. After a few minutes, Dean sighed, closing his eyes to try and force himself to fall asleep. Ten minutes passed, but he couldn’t get sleep to come back to him. He tossed and turned, rolling from side to side. He huffed, tugging on the blankets to pull them under his chin. Dean spent another minute tossing from side to side only stilling when a hand gripped his arm. </p><p>Cas tugged on Dean’s arm, rolling him over so they faced each other. Before Dean could get a word out Cas grabbed the back of his neck, pulling Dean into his chest. In an instant, Cas’ lips pressed into Dean’s, and before Dean could savor the moment, the former angel had pulled away. Their eyes were locked, and after a moment, Dean began to lean back towards Cas, but a sudden tug in his hair made his head jerk back.</p><p>Cas gripped the ends of Dean’s hair, jaw clicking as he tilted his head to the side. “Stop rolling around and go to sleep.”</p><p>Dean swallowed and was only able to give a curt nod.</p><p>Cas’ grip loosened, and his fingers rubbed against Dean’s scalp for a moment before the man let go entirely. He rolled onto his back, letting out a slow breath as he seemed to melt into the mattress.</p><p>Dean stayed frozen for a minute before the thundering of his heart pulled him back to reality. He raised a hand and pushed against his chest. </p><p>Was he having a heart attack? Could a long awaited kiss give someone a heart attack?</p><p>Dean swallowed, rubbing over his heart before he rolled over, back facing Cas. He took a few slow breaths, the kiss playing on repeat in his mind for the next four minutes. His eyes opened and a huff escaped his lips. </p><p>This was ridiculous. </p><p>Dean had kissed many people, including his fair share of guys. None of them left him this winded, not even Lisa. He hadn’t really felt any love for anyone besides his family. He had never felt <em> that </em> kind of love before, but if he had to guess, that was the feeling he had towards Cas. A feeling that had been building for years and now was finally boiling over, but unlike all his nightmares and dark thoughts, it seemed to be reciprocated. Dean pulled on the sheets, staring at the window as headlights shined through the cracks in the blinds. He felt the urge to roll over again but fought it to try and not annoy Cas again.</p><p>Although if Cas kissed him every time he annoyed him… </p><p>Warmth draped over his side, resting just above his belly button. Cas pressed his chest against Dean’s back, slipping his other arm under the Winchester’s pillow. He hooked one of his legs through Dean’s and rested his forehead against Dean’s back, lips dusting over the skin. He raised his head to rest it on Dean’s pillow, nose brushing against his hair. “Do you wanna talk about it?” His breath drifted down Dean’s neck. </p><p>“About what?”</p><p>“You know what, Dean.”</p><p>For a moment, they both stayed that way, enjoying the warmth the other provided. Dean had relaxed into Cas’ hold, but he couldn’t get his mind to relax. He moved his hand to grips Cas’, trying to ground himself.</p><p>“This is weird for me, Cas.” Dean mumbled. “Never cuddled with a guy before.”</p><p>Cas chuckled and pushed himself closer to Dean, giving the Winchester’s entire body a squeeze. “I know this is different for you, Dean, but I think it might be helpful if we do talk about this.”</p><p>“I think I’m in love with you Cas.” Dean rused the words out. “I think I’ve loved you for a while, but with everything going on, Jack, and mom, and just always thinking about dad and when I was growing up, everything he would say about gay guys,” Dean stalled, taking a deep breath. “In Purgatory, I meant every word I said… and didn’t say, and I still mean it.”</p><p>“I love you too, Dean.” Cas mumbled against Dean, a smile gracing his lips. “It was hard for me as an angel. We are supposed to love all beings equally, but you quickly became different for me. It was so clear to every angel but me. When I finally realized it, Amara was a problem, and since then, we’ve never had more than a few days away from the action.”</p><p>Dean chuckled, realizing his heart was beginning to slow down. “Hopefully those times are over. Just easy hunts now, no more apocalypses.”</p><p>“Who knows with our luck.” Cas mumbled, relaxing his hold on Dean. “But so far… things are looking good.”<br/><br/>Dean nodded, closing his eyes while a smirk settled on his face. “Yeah, they are.”</p><p>                                                                     +                                                                    +</p><p>Ghost Road didn’t seem that much different when the sun was out. The dirt road was full of potholes, rocking the Impala from side to side. Trees lined both sides of the road, and seemed to go on for miles. There were three cars parked on the road when Dean and Cas pulled up, but before Dean could get out and scare them off, they had driven off, not wanting to get caught in whatever it was they were doing. </p><p>Dean rolled his eyes as he stepped out of the Impala, watching the tree cars kick up dust as they raced down the road. “Probably doing drugs.”</p><p>Cas shrugged when he stepped out of the car. “Probably, but at least they left without a fight.”</p><p>“I do like scaring college kids though.” Dean chuckled, walking to the edge of the road. “I don’t know what these ghost kids would be tied to out here. All that’s out here are trees and bushes.”</p><p>Cas shrugged, walking to the opposite side of the road. “I’m not sure. It could be anything; the other ghost boy was connected to the pocket knife.”</p><p>“It would take us days to find something that small out here.” Dean groaned before stepping down into the ditch, pushing some bushes out of his way. “We don’t even know how long ago these kids died, and the thing they’re connected to could be anything; it could be buried somewhere around here.”</p><p>Cas glanced back over at Dean, stuffing his hands in his jean pockets. “We might have to go back to the bunker to get a metal detector or something.” Cas made his way into the trees on his side of the road. “Maybe if we can talk to the ghosts, then they can tell us where the object is.”</p><p>Dean nodded before raising both arms in the air. “Oh yes, hello ghosts children! Please tell us where the object that ties you to this mortal world is hidden.”</p><p>Cas rolled his eyes, turning to glare at the Winchester who had begun slowly spinning in the ditch with his arms still raised over his head. Cas chuckled as Dean stumbled back against a tree. “Dean. That isn’t funny.” </p><p>“Then why are you smiling?” Dean smirked, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back against the tree. He looked around the ground before pushing himself off the tree. “We might as well try and talk to these ghosts; we’re never going to find their connection out here.”</p><p>Cas looked around before stepping back out of the ditch and back towards the Impala. “How do you suggest we do that?”</p><p>Dean shrugged, also walking back towards the Impala. “Well they didn’t respond to my shouting.” He smirked while Cas just shot him an annoyed side glance. He shrugged, looking around. “I don’t know. Ghosts are normally coming at us from left and right; we normally don’t have to wait around for them to show themselves.” </p><p>“These are children; they could just be too scared.”</p><p>“They’re ghosts, Cas.” Dean leaned against the front bumper. “When have you ever heard of humans scaring the ghosts.”</p><p>“Again, these are children.” Cas leaned next to Dean, their shoulders touching. “I’ve heard many parents tell their children to fear strangers. They could just be afraid of us. We are strangers.”</p><p>Dean sighed, supporting himself against Cas. “Well how do you suggest we get these kids to come out and talk to us?”</p><p>“According to research, there are two kids. We could try to talk to one of them. Try to get at least one of them to come out.” Cas looked around once more. “We are here to help you both. You aren’t a threat here. You aren’t hurting anyone, but wouldn’t you want to move on from here?”</p><p>Dean rolled his eyes. “Yeah, kiddos. You aren’t doing harm except slamming doors and ripping my favorite flannels.”</p><p>Cas shot Dean a look. “They probably didn’t mean to rip your shirt.”</p><p>“I didn’.”</p><p>Dean launched off the hood, instinct causing him to pull his pistol out from his waistband by the time Cas had turned toward the meek voice.</p><p>There stood a pale boy that couldn’t have been higher than Dean’s waist. His hair covered his ears. His pale skin nearly blue, dirt smudges over his nose and cheeks with what seemed to be a dirty handprint on his neck. He wore overalls with patches crudely sewn into the original fabric, while his yellowish shirt was ripped down his chest, missing the top half buttons. The top part of his chest was covered in black bruises, black sores around his collarbones. </p><p>In the instant after Dean pointed his pistol at the little boy, the little boy grew scared, holding up both of his hands and letting out a scream that would put a banshee to shame. Just as Dean went to lower the weapon, another form appeared right in front of him, a small hand to stomach causing him to tumble back into the dirt. When he tumbled back he felt a stinging pop in his left ankle, his head cracking against the road. </p><p>“Leave my brother alone!” A little girl stomped up to Deans side, glaring down at him.</p><p>The girl had stringy golden hair, nearly reaching her waist. Like the boy, she was pale, dirt smeared across her face and neck, suspiciously in the shape of hands. She wore a blue plaid dress, also repaired in places with various colored patches, and the lace around the collar was hanging off to one side. </p><p>The boy grew silent, holding out his arms to the little girl while his bottom lip began quivering. </p><p>The girl instantly abandoned Dean, running over to her brother and taking him into her arms. She glared at the two men, watching closely as Cas ran over to help Dean to his feet. </p><p>“Are you okay?” Cas helped Dean to his feet before glancing up and down to check for any injuries. </p><p>“I’m fine.” Dean grumbled, shooting his own dirty look at the little girl. “I’d say these two are hurting people.”</p><p>“Just you!” The little girl snapped. “You were pointing that gun at my brother!”</p><p>Dean went to argue back, but with a deep breath, he managed to suppress the angry comment. This was just a little girl, and he was a forty-one year old man. “I’m sorry,” he grumbled, taking another deep breath, tossing his gun off to the side. “I shouldn’t have pointed it at him.”</p><p>The girl continued to glare at him, squeezing her brother against her. After a moment, she turned her gaze to Cas. “You shouldn’t have chased me last night.”</p><p>“I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was you.” Cas immediately apologized, crouching down to try and get to the girl’s level. “Someone knocked on the window, and I thought whoever did, wanted to talk. I chased after you because I thought maybe we could help you and your brother.”</p><p>“I knocked on the window.” The little boy mumbled. </p><p>“I told you not to.” The girl scolded. </p><p>“But Ruth…”<br/><br/>“No buts!” The girl glared at the two men. “We don’t need your help.”</p><p>Dean sighed, stepping toward the two despite the pain in his left ankle. “We can help you two move on. You know, go to Heaven and get off this dirt road.”</p><p>The girl shook her head, finally unwrapping her arms from around her brother. “No one can help us.”</p><p>“We know how,” Dean took a few more slow steps, ankle throbbing, but stopped as soon as the kids seemed to grow more fearful. “We’ve helped a lot of ghosts move on to a better place.”</p><p>Cas watched as the girl began to shuffle on her feet. “That’s right,” he agreed. “We <em> can </em>help both of you. We just need to know what happened to you both.”</p><p>The boy glanced up at his sister, grabbing a hold of her dress and giving it a few gentle tugs. “Ruth--”</p><p>“Hush.” She whipped around to look at her brother before lowering her voice in an attempt to keep Dean and Cas from hearing her. “That man tried to shoot you… you know why we can’t trust them.”</p><p>“You know…” Dean crouched down, a soft smile making its way onto his face. “I got a little brother too. His name’s Sammy. I would do anything to keep him safe. I’m really sorry for pointing that gun at your brother. I was scared and pulled it out without thinking. I know why you’re upset because if anyone ever did that to my brother, I would be mad to. In fact people have threatened and even hurt my brother.”</p><p>“They did?” Ruth asked quietly.</p><p>“Yep, and all I wanted to do was hurt the people that hurt him. So I know why you wanted to hurt me.”</p><p>Ruth looked down at his ankle. “I did hurt you.”<br/>“Yeah.” Dean glanced down but immediately raised his eyes to look at the little girl, giving her a wink. “But I deserved it.”</p><p>A small smile tried to fight its way on her face, but she stubbornly shook her head. “We can’t trust you. Either of you.”</p><p>“Why?” Dean tilted his head.</p><p>Ruth shuffled on her feet, reaching back to grab her brother's hand. “You both are men. We can’t trust no men.”</p><p>“And why is that?” Cas spoke up, moving carefully towards Dean, trying not to upset the two children any more than they already were. “Did a man hurt you?”</p><p>“We were killed by a man.” Ruth admitted.</p><p>“Our grandpa.” The boy spoke up.</p><p>“Joseph!” She hissed at her brother. She chewed on the inside of her cheek before turning back to Dean. “But he’s tellin’ the truth. Our grandpa was the man who hurt us…”</p><p>Dean shook his head. “I didn’t have the best grandpa either. Can you tell me what happened? If he and I know what happened we can try and help both of you.”</p><p>Ruth looked between both of them skeptically but Joseph began to smile. “Pomise?” </p><p>Dean smiled, offering his hand palm up to the boy. “Promise.”</p><p>The boy reached out and rested his hand on Deans, but instead of touch, all Dean could feel was a cold presence against his palm.</p><p>Joseph looked up hopefully to his sister. “He pomised, Ruthie.”</p><p>She swallowed, nodding her head vigorously. “Okay… okay,” she took a deep breath. “Joseph and I had to leave our momma and daddy because they lost all their money. Grandpa said it was on booze and gambling. They sent us here to live with grandpa, momma’s daddy.”</p><p>“Where did you live before?” Cas asked, sitting down just behind Dean. </p><p>“A big city.” Joseph spread his arms wide. “We lived in a big building, in a small room.”</p><p>Ruthie nodded. “We all had to share a bed, but when we moved out here, we got our own rooms. The house was over there,” she pointed towards the side of the road and to a field just visible through the trees. “Grandpa even let us play outside on our own with his dog, Scottie. He said we would be able to go home as soon as momma and daddy got more money, and he promised it would be before Joseph’s fifth birthday. But his birthday passed, and we got past my birthday, and momma and daddy never came and got us. Grandpa started to get really angry all the time and made us do chores all day.”</p><p>“Yeah.” Joseph nodded aggressively. “He made me chop the wood.”</p><p>Dean frowned. “But you were just five, right?”</p><p>The boy nodded. “Yep. I could barely hold up the axe.”</p><p>“A five year old shouldn’t have to use an axe.” Cas shook his head. “You could have hurt yourself. You should have been playing, and just starting school.”</p><p>“Grandpa kept us from school. He told us if we wanted food, then we would have to help.” Ruthie explained. “I cleaned the house all the time and had to make all our meals. If supper was late, Grandpa would get super mad and hit me with a belt. I took Joseph's punishments too. That belt coulda really hurt him. Joseph nearly turned six, but grandpa started acting really weird one night.”</p><p>Dean clenched his jaw as both children grew upset, tears welling in their eyes.</p><p>“He was throwing bottles around and cussin’ and saying bad things about momma. Ruthie and I were just playing with trucks when he started yellin’ at us about momma.” Joseph mumbled, once again grabbing a hold of his sister. “But then he got really quiet.”</p><p>Ruthie nodded and rubbed at her eyes. “He was yellin’ and throwin’ stuff, and then it got really quiet for a few minutes. Then he told us to go outside. I didn’t want to get the belt so I just took Joseph outside. Scottie came with us and was running around while we waited outside. Grandpa came out after a minute with a shovel. I got really scared, cause he didn’ say anything and just pointed the shovel towards the road. We started down the road and into the trees. Scottie was barking and biting at grandpa’s ankles. Grandpa kept tryin’ to hit him with the shovel,” Ruthie hiccuped as tears now slipped down her cheeks despite her trying to stop them. “After a few minutes grandpa started yellin’ again, sayin’ we had to stand in the ditch. Joseph was crying and couldn’ walk, so I had to drag him into the ditch.”</p><p>“You were cryin’ too.” Joseph cried, hiding his face against his sister's arm.</p><p>She nodded, trying to take some deep breaths to calm herself, but it only made her breathing short and shallow.</p><p>“It’s okay, Ruth.” Cas comforted. “You don’t have to finish telling us if it’s too hard.”</p><p>Ruth looked up at Cas but shook her head. “N-No. I can do it. Grandpa started hitting his face with the shovel and his nose was bleedin’ everywhere. He looked like a monster. When he was hitting himself, I tried to run away with Joseph but Grandpa saw. He hit us with the shovel and we fell back into the ditch. Grandpa hit me in the head with the shovel and all I could really see was light.” She hiccuped once again, nose beginning to run. “But I felt him sit over my stomach and he started choking me. I don’t remember after that.”</p><p>“I saw grandpa hurting Ruthie.” Joseph admitted, finally peeking out from his sister’s side. “I tried hittin’ him to get him off her but he kept pushing me away. He got off Ruthie and tried grabbing me, but Scottie bit his arm. Grandpa got really mad and got the shovel and started beatin’ Scottie with it.” Joseph whimpered. “There was blood on the shovel when he came over. He started poking the wooden end on my chest and tummy. It hurt, and I couldn’t get up. Ruthie wasn’t moving, and I couldn’t breathe when grandpa jumped on me. My chest really hurt, like fire, and then he wrapped his hand around my neck like he did with Ruthie.”</p><p>Ruthie had slowly begun to get her breathing back under control, squeezing her brother's hand. “We woke up together the next morning, and I tried to run for help, to tell someone about grandpa, but I couldn’ get to the main road. No matter what we did we couldn’t leave this road. People would come, but they couldn’t see us… it took awhile but I figured out it was cause we were dead.”</p><p>Dean smiled sadly. “Sometimes people can’t see what’s right in front of them.”</p><p>Ruthie nodded in agreement. “We never saw grandpa again. We sometimes hear Scottie, but we never see him.”</p><p>“I’m sorry that your own grandfather did that to you.” Cas said, getting down to crouch again. “But now we can maybe help you both leave the road.”</p><p>“How?” Ruthie asked. “I tried everything. Nothin’s worked.”</p><p>“Do you remember exactly where you both woke up after your grandpa hurt you?” Dean asked carefully. “If we find where he buried you, we might be able to find what is keeping you both here.”</p><p>Ruthie hummed before pointing down the road. “I think it’s down there.” She started down the road, keeping a hold on Joseph who was shuffling behind her.</p><p>Cas stood up, helping Dean to his feet. “So you <em> are </em> hurt?” </p><p>“Twisted my ankle. It isn’t something to worry about.” Dean shrugged, putting his arm over Cas’ shoulders, letting the man wrap his arm around the hunter’s waist. “Don’t you think this is a little much, Cas?” </p><p>Cas shook his head, supporting Dean’s weight effortlessly as he followed after the two children. “No. You would be doing the same if it were my ankle. Besides,” Cas bumped his hip against Dean’s as they walked. “This gives me an excuse to hold you.”</p><p>Dean rolled his eyes. “I think you need to spend less time with Eileen.”</p><p>“Sam taught me that one.” Cas smiled proudly before a blush suddenly crossed his cheeks. “Sam’s been texting me since we last left the bunker.”</p><p>“About what?”</p><p>Cas cleared his throat. “He’s been giving me advice on… you… and how to um…”</p><p>Dean laughed, glancing up as the two children stopped near the edge of the ditch. “I get it Cas. Sam’s a good wingman sometimes.”</p><p>Cas’ eyebrows scrunched together, but Joseph quickly ran over to them.</p><p>He pointed to where his sister was now kneeling down. “That’s where grandpa attacked us. I woke up by that tree.” He tried to grab Cas’ hand but his small hand slipped right through the man’s. He frowned looking down at his opaque hand, bottom lip trembling. </p><p>Dean slipped his arm from Cas’ shoulders before bending down to get the boys attention. “Hey, Joseph… it’s okay little man. We’re going to get you off this road and to a much better place.”</p><p>“You think we’ll get into Heaven?” Ruthie asked, turning to look back at them. “Grandpa said we were the children of the devil, and didn’ deserve to get into Heaven.”</p><p>“Well the son of the devil is currently running Heaven.” Cas said in an attempt to appease the children, but they only looked confused. Cas bit his lip before shaking his head. “Besides, what your grandpa says doesn’t matter. He was a horrible man.”</p><p>Dean nodded. “Exactly. I can promise you that both of you are going to Heaven.”</p><p>Ruthie stood, dusting off her knees even though there was no dirt. “Maybe we’ll see momma and daddy again.”</p><p>Cas smiled. “I’m sure you will.” He rested his hand on Dean’s shoulder. “I’m going to get the shovels.”</p><p>“Shovels?” Joseph asked.</p><p>Dean nodded as Cas headed back towards the Impala. “To send you and your sister to Heaven, we have to dig up your bodies. We have to dig them up and then burn them. Burning your bodies makes it so you two can go to Heaven and aren’t stuck on this road anymore.”</p><p>Joseph looked down at the untouched ground. “Will it hurt?”</p><p>“No.” Dean shook his head. “But I’m going to ask you both to look away when we dig.”</p><p>“Why?” Ruthie crossed her arms. </p><p>Dean bit the inside of his cheek. “I don’t want either of you to see what’s down there. It won’t be pretty.”</p><p>“Maybe my truck is down there.” Joseph wandered into the ditch. “I had it when grandpa made us leave the house. When we woke up out here I couldn’ find it.”</p><p>Dean clenched his jaw.<br/><br/>These kids were so young and were killed by their own grandfather. They had been abandoned with a crazy old man that finally snapped, taking out his anger on two innocent kids. He took everything from them, took their chance at life, a chance for their own families, a chance to leave this secluded dirt road. That man deserved to burn in hell for all eternity, and anything else would be too good for him.</p><p>Dean startled out of his thoughts when Cas tapped his shoulder with the handle of a shovel. Dean cleared his throat and nodded as he took the shovel. He looked down at the two children, both staring up at him with doe eyes. “Okay you two, turn and look at the other end of the road while we dig, okay? Once we burn your bodies you will be able to leave.”</p><p>Ruthie and Joseph nodded, both promptly turning to face the opposite side of the road. As Dean and Cas dug, they had to pause when one of the children would try to sneak a peek. It took a little longer than usual, both men trying to spare the children from seeing their own bones. It took nearly half an hour before Cas came across a crudely made wooden box. He and Dean used the shovels to pry the nails off one side, opening the splintering box. </p><p>Two skeletons lied inside, covered in old outfits, metal toys and moldy dolls surrounding them. Some of the bones were broken, ribs in multiple pieces, fingers in fragments, while each skull had a large crack. </p><p>Cas swallowed, glancing over at Dean before passing him a box of matches. Cas slipped a flask from his jacket, dumping the dark liquid over the contents of the box, stepping away from the shallow grave and over to the children that had obediently kept their backs turned for the past ten minutes.</p><p>Dean sighed, stepping toward the children himself giving them a smile. “You two are going to love it up in Heaven. I promise.” He looked at Cas, biting his lip. “Our son is there. He can show you around.”</p><p>The two kids looked between the men before smiling.<br/><br/>“Thank you…” Ruthie said. </p><p>“You’re very welcome.” Cas said as Dean ignited a match, tossing it into the wooden box.</p><p>Thanks to the alcohol, the contents of the box caught fire almost immediately. There were a few pops before the fire settled, destroying what remained of the children’s lives.</p><p>The children themselves began to fade, holding each other's hands as they disappeared entirely. </p><p>Cas stepped over to Dean, wrapping his arm around his waist, watching the fire crackle.</p><p>Dean leaned his head against Cas’. He pressed himself into the former angel, the light of the fire beginning to cast their shadows across the road as the sun began to set to their left. </p><p>They didn’t speak, but they didn’t have to.</p><p>                                                                     +                                                                    +</p><p>“We’re going to head out in the morning, Sam.” Dean sighed, plopping down on the bed. “It was rough. I’ll tell you everything once we get back.” Dean looked up, watching Cas pack up his bag. A soft smile crossed Dean’s features. “Yeah, everything. I’ll call you before we hit the road. See ya, bitch.”</p><p>Cas chuckled, tucking his dirty clothes to one side of his bag. “What a loving nickname for your brother.”</p><p>Dean smiled. “I can come up with one for you if you want.”</p><p>“If it’s as loving as the one you give your brother, I’d be honored.” Cas shook his head with a laugh. He zipped up his bag, and set it next to the nightstand before falling down on top of Dean.</p><p>The hunter groaned, shifting under the new weight, but it was all in jest. He freed his arms, wrapping them around Castiel’s neck, letting his fingers intertwine with the ends of Cas’ dark locks. The two of them lied together, Dean playing with Cas’ while the tips of their noses brushed against each other. A few minutes passed before Dean pressed a light kiss to Cas’ lips pushing against his shoulders. </p><p>“Alright, as much as I love this, you need to get off.” Dean said.</p><p>Cas tilted his head leaning down once more to brush his lips against Dean’s. “Why? I don’t think we’ll be interrupted this time.” </p><p>Dean swallowed, chuckling nervously. “We aren’t doing anything like that until I’ve had a shower.”</p><p>Cas rolled his eyes before stealing another kiss. He rolled off Dean and onto his back. He propped himself up on his elbows, watching as Dean rummaged in his duffel for a clean pair of boxers. He smirked as Dean pulled his shirt over his head. “You tell me I have to wait then start undressing in front of me?”</p><p>Dean laughed, tossing his shirt at Cas. “I said I needed to shower first, but I never said I wasn’t a tease. I’ll be quick.” Without waiting for a response, Dean disappeared into the bathroom, leaving the door open a crack. He stripped out of his jeans and boxers before turning on the shower. It took a minute before the water was warm enough for him to step in. He sighed as the warmth cascaded over him running down his back and chest. He reached for the shampoo, but stopped when he felt arms wrap around his waist. He chuckled, leaning back into a new found warmth.<br/><br/>“Aloha, cowboy.”</p><p> </p>
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